French Onion Soup

December 19, 2012

If you are an avid reader of my blog you may have heard me mention My French Heaven a few times. It is an amazing blog that you should all go and check out straight away. When you visit said blog you should follow it then leave a comment telling him that it was me the fat girl who so kindly delivered you so you can help me win a holiday to stay in his glorious château in France. I was in the lead but pole position could be lost at any time so please, please, please, please, help me out and help me to win a very well deserved holiday.

Anyway back to today’s post, one of the fabulously French recipes Stephane featured was this amazing French onion soup. I had to tweak it ever so slightly to make it work here in Korea. I have of course displayed Stephane’s beautiful picture of the soup at the top. My less attractive picture sits at the bottom. But looks aren’t everything are they? It’s the taste that counts.

Ingredients

9 small onions

4 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 liters of water

1 chicken stock cube

A knob of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions

Thinly slice your onions and garlic then fry them in a large knob of butter and a glug of olive oil. Do this on a medium to low heat. This will take around 30 minutes, never leave your pan’s side even for a second. Stir them regularly to make sure they are getting an even coverage. They should be a very brown, but not burnt, by the time they are are done. Once your onions have caramelised, put them into a saucepan along with a 1.5 litres of water and a chicken stock cube. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat so the soup is simmering and cook for 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley if you have some. Pour the soup into bowls and top with a slice of baguette. Top with grated cheese (Gruyère in an ideal world, in Korea this will probably entail cheddar, mozzarella, or a mixture of both). Cook under a grill until the cheese is has melted and is slightly browned. Carefully remove bow from under the grill and enjoy! Voilà une très facile soupe à l’oignon.